Best PlacesOwatonna, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Owatonna, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Owatonna ranks 649th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and transit ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Owatonna
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Owatonna's strengths and weaknesses
Where Owatonna ranks high
- Short commute18.0 minutes each way, better than 94% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 180 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 85% of cities
Where Owatonna ranks low
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 15% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 22% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 28% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 28% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Owatonna
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Owatonna home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,059, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Owatonna's effective rate of 1.21%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Owatonna
Owatonna's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Owatonna.
Who works in Owatonna, and how
Work in Owatonna centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Owatonna
Owatonna has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of cities and more parkland per resident than 97% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Owatonna and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Owatonna, month by month
Owatonna sees roughly 180 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 17° | 10° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 59° | 49° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Owatonna
The nearest airport, Rochester International, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 55 miles away.
The best schools in and around Owatonna
Schools across Owatonna average a B−, better than 52% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Blooming Prairie ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Lincoln ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- Washington ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Owatonna Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Owatonna Senior HighB+ · 53% proficient
- Blooming Prairie SecondaryC+ · 35% proficient
- Medford SecondaryC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Owatonna school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Owatonna measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Owatonna against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Owatonna suits
Families
Schools land around the 52nd percentile and crime safety beats 84%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 90% of cities and health care access beats 70%.
Common questions about living in Owatonna
Is Owatonna a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Owatonna ranks 649th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on short commutes, the weather, and civic engagement, and lowest on transit and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Owatonna expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $253,282. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $87,059 median income, cost of living beats 58% of cities.
Is Owatonna safe?
Yes, Owatonna is safer than 84% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $235 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Owatonna?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 25 with lows near 10. That works out to about 180 pleasant days a year, more than 90% of cities.
Is Owatonna good for families?
Schools beat 52% of cities, crime safety beats 84%, and childcare runs $1,041 a month.
Compare Owatonna with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Owatonna. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Owatonna represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Owatonna detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Owatonna: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Owatonna: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Owatonna: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Owatonna: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Owatonna detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.